Presidential decision making

There are many decisions a president must make when contemplating war with another country. These decisions are important, because there are many terrible things that might happen to the country if war is hastily carried out without being thought through. This can range from losing a valuable allay to the destruction or the entire nation. Clearly, war is not something to be undertaken just because the leader of another nation does something such as accusing …

…the War of 1812 liked to call it "Mr. Madison's War." They called it this because they saw Madison as a pacifist who was dragged into the war by the aggressive War Hawks. This is a very inaccurate description of what really happened, because Madison was in charge of the whole affair all the way. He had a very difficult choice to make, but after reviewing his options the choice was clear, "Make war with Britain!"